To Build a Home
by madamsimple
Summary: Her eyes twitched for the first time in a very long time. It was there. Over all those layers of clothes it was rather difficult to sense it, but she was feeling it. It was faint, but it was there. She could feel his heart beating. He was alive, and he was by her side. [Oneshot] [AU]


**A/N: Okay, firstly, this is the first fic I write in english -which is not my first language-, so I hope you can excuse me if I make any typo. Secondly, this is an oneshot AU in which Robb and Catelyn have been killed by the Lannisters during a battle which happened while Arya, Gendry and Hot Pie were still travelling with the Brotherhood without Banners. And last but not least, I highly recommend you to read this fic while listening to ****_To Build a Home_**** by ****_The Cinematic Orchestra_**** feat Patrick Watson. Reviews will be very appreciated. Enjoy!**

* * *

_This is a place where I don't feel alone._  
_This is a place where I feel at home._  
_'Cause, I built a home_  
_For you,_  
_For me._  
_Until it disappeared_  
_From me,_  
_From you._  
_And now, it's time to leave and turn to dust._

* * *

Three weeks had already passed since Arya had received the news that smashed her into tiny little pieces. She had stopped speaking, she didn't even bother insulting anyone anymore. Her face was emaciated, her lips chapped, her eyes red and swollen above her ever growing dark circles. Twenty one days later, she still couldn't sleep: she tried, but everytime she did she ended up shaking and screaming and crying in her sleep, and after just a few hours, waking up violently and sweating. That's why, in the end, she came to the conclusion that it was better for her not to try.

Nevertheless, she still needed to rest, so Arya went to "sleep" every night with her travelling companions, even thought she stayed awaken while the others snored, thinking about her lost family. She still couldn't believe it.

_They killed dad, mom and Robb. Sansa is still withheld by them, Gods know if she is alive. I don't know anything about Jon's whereabouts; he could also be dead, just as Ghost, Summer, Grey Wind and Shaggydog. Theon killed Bran and Rickon. Lady is dead as well, and Nymeria is lost. I don't have anything left._

Arya shivered at the thought of her being completely alone in the world. What is a wolf without its pack? She felt completely unprotected in the face of danger, hopeless and cold and too tired to continue fighting for survival. She lay on her back to watch the sky and she wondered wether all her family was up there, watching over her, together.

_How unfair_, she thought, _all of them reunited once again, probably having fun and not caring about the war or anything anymore, while I'm stuck down here all by myself. _She closed her eyes and tried to imagine them: Arya could see Rickon and Bran wrestling under the Heart Tree, Robb watching over them in case they got hurt, Catelyn and Ned just a few steps from them, smiling lovingly while embracing each other, Sansa and Jon seating between some of the tree's wide roots, grinning at their little brothers. Arya tried to reach them with her hand, hoping she would be able to feel her family again; hoping her mom and sister would scold her because of her un-lady-like appearence, hoping her father would lift her on his arms and smile widely at her, hoping Robb and Jon would ask her what did she do to survive all this time and hoping Bran and Rickon would throw themselves over her to wrestle. But then she opened her eyes and saw nothing but the dark night sky decorated by distant shiny dots. She could even spot some constellations. Arya felt like she was being buried in selfpity; even the stars weren't as lonely as her.

Arya closed her eyes and shifted to move on her side once again. It was like she had been in a permanent state of shock, the only things she remembered from the past three weeks where like pierced images, scattered all over her mind. The emptiness she had been feeling ever since she heard what had happened swallowed everything else, leaving a trace of deep scars. She wondered if those scars would ever heal completely, but she was secretly convinced that they wouldn't.

She was bound to live completely alone until some rat discovered who she really was and handed her over to the Lannisters, delivering her directly to death. For a second she thought that that idea wasn't as bad as it seemed; Arya felt so tired, she just wanted it to stop. She needed that black pit inside her to close, even if it left her like a rock, with no feelings at all. She even wished she could forget everything and everyone and restart as a new person or no one at all. She desired the fire that was her life would extinguish. She wondered why she hadn't extinguised it herself yet.

The cold was piercing her skin to reach her bones. Arya started shivering and the damp and dirty clothes weren't successful preventing her to freeze. Then she felt it. She felt someone bringing her close to them, providing her some body warmth. Someone was by her side.

The little solitary girl opened her eyes again to see a pair of intense blue eyes staring right into hers. For a moment, she couldn't fathom who that man was, but then a hideous wave of realization hit her.

_It's Gendry._

The reason why she hadn't extinguished her own fire was right in front of her. The person who had been taking care of her, now she remembered, was him. The pierced images inside her mind started to rebuild themselves until they were actual, real memories. _I can remember_, she thought. All those nights she fell asleep and broke her insides while dreaming, shaking and yelling, he was the only one who had realized. Since then, he had always slept by her side, making sure that she didn't freeze at night and that she woke up everyday she had fallen asleep even if, in order to do it, he had to see her in that devastating state.

Arya felt a little spark ignite inside her chest.

He seemed to notice it, for he smiled at her with his lips and his eyes. Arya could read the relief and concern in them. And just a simple thing like that, just a sincere smile, cracked her open.

She felt a tear running down her temple and crashing on her hair. Gendry noticed it and frowned slightly, but seeing that she wasn't going to give any explanation, he chose to keep quiet and wipe the tears that were following that first one with his thumb.

Without saying a single word and almost without even blinking, just staring into his eyes, Arya moved one of her hands until she reached his chest. He didn't look away from her eyes as she pressed her hand against him.

Her eyes twitched for the first time in a very long time. It was there. Over all those layers of clothes it was rather difficult to sense it, but she was feeling it. It was faint, but_ it was there_. She could feel his heart beating.

He was alive, and he was by her side.

More tears were beginning to form in her eyes, and she saw Gendry blurry, but she was still looking into his eyes. Her lips started to tremble, which made it quite difficult for her to speak.

"Don't leave me," she mumbled weakly. Gendry smiled at the sound of the voice he had been waiting weeks to hear again. "Don't you dare leaving me as well."

She had put great effort on uttering that sentence, and when she reached its very last word her voice cracked and she broke into sobs. Gendry rested his hand on the back of her neck and stared at her smiling for a moment before bringing her head closer and a bit lower. He kissed her hair and rested his chin over that same spot.

"As m'lady commands."

She grabbed his other hand strongly, placing it closer to her face. That was where she belonged. She belonged with Gendry. He was the only thing she had left.

Gendry was her home now.


End file.
